Welder&#39;s helmet with respirator

ABSTRACT

A welder&#39;s helmet is provided including a welder&#39;s mask having a sight window and at least one opening in the mask for accommodating a filter cartridge of a respirator mask. The respirator mask is independently strapped to the user&#39;s head to assure proper airtight fit to the user&#39;s face. A foam mounting structure is formed from a plurality of spacer strips that allow the user to customize the spacing between the welder&#39;s mask and respirator mask to fit their individual size requirements. A pair of respirator cartridges can be utilized to extend from the sides of the welder&#39;s helmet so as not to provide an obstruction in front of the user&#39;s face.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a welder's helmet and more particularlyto a welders helmet with a respirator.

BACKGROUND AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It has been well known in the welding art for a welder to wear a helmetin order to protect the welder's face from sparks as well as providing atinted sight window to protect the welder against damage to the eyes dueto the intense flash caused by electric arc welding, and other weldingprocesses. A typical welder's helmet utilizes a nearly opaque or lightradiation absorbing window to block the intense arc light, but stillallow the welder to view the workpiece on which he is working.

Accordingly, welding masks have been designed to sufficiently protectthe welder against damage to the eyes and against sputtering or thrownparticles of metal that are otherwise projected toward the welder'sface.

There are further known welder's helmet designs that include means forprotecting a welder against poisonous or noxious fumes and gases thatare commonly given off by the welding rods. Although these knownwelder's helmets with means for protecting a welder against poisonous ornoxious fumes present an advancement in the welding art for protectingthe welder, it is still desirable in the welding art to provide awelder's helmet with a respirator that is more suitably adapted to theindividual welder's face, provides a better airtight sealing around theuser's nose and mouth, and provides reduced obstruction to the user'svision.

Accordingly, the welder's helmet, according to the principles of thepresent invention, provides a respirator mask having an independentstrap for ensuring that the respirator mask is securely fitted to auser's face. In addition, the respirator mask includes a pair of filtersthat are received in respective openings in the welder's mask that aredisposed to separate sides thereof so as to reduce the obstruction ofthe welder. Finally, a foam interior mounting structure is providedinside of the helmet to accommodate for variances in welders' faces. Inparticular, the foam interior mounting structure can be adapted byadding additional layers of foam for mounting the respirator mask withinthe welder mask.

Further areas of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It shouldbe understood that the detailed description and specific examples, whileindicating the preferred embodiment of the invention, are intended forpurposes of illustration only and are not intended to limit the scope ofthe invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description and the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a front perspective view of a welder's helmet with respirator,according to the principles of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a front plan view of the welder's helmet with respirator, asshown in FIG. 1, with the respirator portion, disposed within thehelmet, being shown in phantom for illustration purposes;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the various componentsutilized in the welder's helmet, according the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 4 is a rear plan view of the welder's helmet illustrating the foamspacers that are utilized for securing the respirator within thewelder's mask according to one aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a rear plan view of the welder's helmet with the respirator inplace inside the helmet according the principles of the presentinvention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of a cap member utilized for covering theopenings in a welder's helmet when the respirator is removed;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a cap member according to a secondembodiment; and

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a cap member according to a thirdembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The following description of the preferred embodiment(s) is merelyexemplary in nature and is in no way intended to limit the invention,its application, or uses.

With reference to FIG. 1, a welder's helmet 10 according the principlesof the present invention, is shown. The welder's helmet 10 includes awelder's mask 12 including a sight window 14 which can include a singlewindow or a pair of separate windows for each eye of the user. A dark,light absorbing panel 16 is pivotally mounted to the welder's mask 12and can be moved to an open position as illustrated in FIG. 1, and movedto a closed position as illustrated in FIG. 2 for covering the sightwindow 14. The welder's mask 12 includes a pair of openings 18 disposedon opposite sides of the mask as best illustrated in FIG. 2. Asillustrated in FIG. 4, the welder's mask 12 includes a head ringassembly 20 disposed on the interior of the welder's mask 12 that isdesigned to engage a user's head. The head ring assembly 20 includes anadjustment feature 22 to allow the head ring 20 to be adjusted indiameter to fit different sized user's heads. The head ring assembly 20also includes a top head strap 24 which engages the top of the user'shead. The top head strap 24 is also adjustable for different sizeduser's heads.

A respirator mask 30, best shown in FIG. 3, is disposed within thewelder's mask 12 and includes a pair of respirator filter cartridges 32disposed on opposite sides thereof and disposed within the pair ofopenings 18 provided in the welder's mask 12. The respirator mask 30includes two internally threaded apertures 34 which are engaged bythread portions 36 disposed on filter cartridges 32. As best shown inFIG. 5, the respirator mask 30 includes a strap including a first strapmember 38 and second strap member 40 which are provided with connectorportions 42, 44, respectively, to allow the strap 38, 40 to be engagedaround a user's head in order to secure the respirator mask 30 to theuser independent of the welder's mask 12. The openings 18 provided inthe welder's mask 12 are slightly larger than the diameter of the filtercartridges 32 to allow relative movement therebetween.

With reference to FIGS. 3 and 4, a plurality of differently sized foamspacer strips 50, 52, 54 are provided for connecting the respirator mask30 to the interior surface of the welder's mask 12. The foam spacerstrips 50, 52, 54 are applied as illustrated in FIG. 4 such that theapplication of a single or multiple layers of foam spacers 50, 52, 54allow the user to “build-up” the mounting surface within the welder'shelmet to which one portion of a hook-and-loop type fastener 60 can bemounted so as to provide appropriate spacing for connection with anassociated portion 62 of a hook-and-loop type fastener that isadhesively secured to the front of the respirator mask 30, as shown inFIG. 3. With the hook-and-loop fastener 60, 62, the respirator mask 30can be removed from the welder's mask 12 so that the welder's mask 12can be utilized without the respirator mask 30 if desired.

The side openings 18 provided in the welder's mask 12 also allow for theeasy accessibility and changing of the respirator filter cartridges 32which are easily threaded into and out of the threaded apertures 34provided in the respirator mask 30. With each of the openings 18 beingdisposed on opposite sides of the mask, the mask is not required toextend further away from the front of the user's face, which wouldotherwise cause an obstruction to the user's vision. The foam spacers50, 52, 54 can be provided with self adhesive layers so that they can beeasily applied within the helmet to adapt the helmet for the individualuser.

When the welder's helmet 10 is utilized without the respirator mask 30,the openings 18 can be covered with cap members 70, as best shown inFIG. 6. The cap members 70 are preferably made from the same materialand color as the welding helmet itself, and can include flexible memoryclips 72 that engage the opening 18 or can be provided with otherfastening means to allow the cap members to substantial cover theopenings 18.

As an alternative, as illustrated in FIG. 7, the cap members 170 can beprovided with one or more magnets 172 adhered to it. The magnet could bea magnetic ring or a plurality of spaced magnets, such as thebutton-shaped magnets that are shown. The welding helmet can also beprovided with corresponding magnets or metal surfaces adhered orotherwise secured to it to correspond with the magnets 172 of cap member170 for holding the cap members 170 in place. It should be understood byone having ordinary skill in the art, that the magnets can be placed onone or both of the cap member and helmet while the other correspondingmating element can be either magnetic or metal.

As still another alternative embodiment, as shown in FIG. 8, the caps270 are provided as a dual layer magnetic cap that can be utilized whenthe welding helmet has the filter clearance holes cut into it, ratherthan being formed in the helmet molding process. The cap 270 can be madeto accommodate for either multiple button sized magnets such asillustrated in FIG. 8, or accommodating a ring magnet. The two layer272, 274 of the cap are adhered together by an adhesive. Once this iscompleted, the magnets 276 are then adhered into place on the cap 270.The dual layer style cap 270 is a resultant of the manufacturing processof the helmet. An added safety ring feature is added to the helmetaround the filters clearance holes in order to protect the weldingoperator from sharp edges on the holes that may result due to the holesbeing cut into the welding helmet as a retrofit system.

The description of the invention is merely exemplary in nature and,thus, variations that do not depart from the gist of the invention areintended to be within the scope of the invention. Such variations arenot to be regarded as a departure from the spirit and scope of theinvention.

1. A welder's helmet, comprising: a mask adapted to be worn over auser's face and including a sight window and at least one opening insaid mask, said mask including a first strap adapted to engage a user'shead for holding the mask in place; and a respirator adapted to be wornover a user's nose and mouth and including at least one respiratorfilter disposed in said at least one opening in said mask, saidrespirator including a second strap adapted to be fastened around auser's head for holding the respirator in place.
 2. The welder's helmetaccording to claim 1, further comprising at least one foam strip securedinside of said mask, wherein said respirator is secured to said at lestone foam strip.
 3. The welder's helmet according to claim 2, whereinsaid at least one foam strip includes a plurality of foam strips thatare selectively stacked to provide a desired spacing between said maskand said respirator.
 4. The welder's helmet according to claim 2,wherein said respirator is secured to said at least one foam strip by areleasable hook and loop fastener.
 5. The welder's helmet according toclaim 1, wherein said at least one hole in said mask includes a pair ofopenings disposed in said mask and said respirator includes a pair ofrespirator filters disposed in said pair of openings.
 6. The welder'shelmet according to claim 1, wherein said at least one respirator filteris removably attached to said respirator.
 7. The welder's helmetaccording to claim 1, further comprising a cover member adapted to bemounted over said at least one opening in said mask.
 8. The welder'shelmet according to claim 7, wherein said cover member is mounted tosaid mask by a magnet.
 9. A welder's helmet, comprising: a mask adaptedto be worn over a user's face and including a sight window and a pair ofopenings in said mask; and a respirator adapted to be worn over a user'snose and mouth and including a pair of respirator filters each disposedin a respective one of said pair of openings in said mask.
 10. Thewelder's helmet according to claim 9, further comprising at least onefoam strip secured inside of said mask, wherein said respirator issecured to said at lest one foam strip.
 11. The welder's helmetaccording to claim 10, wherein said at least one foam strip includes aplurality of foam strips that are selectively stacked to provide adesired spacing between said mask and said respirator.
 12. The welder'shelmet according to claim 9, wherein said respirator is secured to saidat least one foam strip by a releasable hook and loop fastener.
 13. Thewelder's helmet according to claim 9, wherein said pair of respiratorfilters are removably attached to said respirator.
 14. The welder'shelmet according to claim 9, further comprising a pair of cover membersadapted to be mounted over said pair of openings in said mask.
 15. Thewelder's helmet according to claim 9, wherein said mask includes a firststrap adapted to engage a user's head for holding the mask in place andsaid respirator includes a second strap adapted to be fastened around auser's head for holding the respirator in place.
 16. A welder's helmet,comprising: a mask adapted to be worn over a user's face and including asight window; a respirator adapted to be worn over a user's nose andmouth; and at least one foam strip secured inside of said mask, whereinsaid respirator is secured to said at least one foam strip.
 17. Thewelder's helmet according to claim 16, wherein said at least one foamstrip includes a plurality of foam strips that are selectively stackedto provide a desired spacing between said mask and said respirator. 18.The welder's helmet according to claim 16, wherein said respirator issecured to said at least one foam strip by a releasable hook and loopfastener.
 19. The welder's helmet according to claim 16, furthercomprising a pair of openings in said mask and said respirator includinga pair of respirator filters each disposed in a respective one of saidpair of openings in said mask.
 20. The welder's helmet according toclaim 19, wherein said mask includes a first strap adapted to engage auser's head for holding the mask in place and said respirator includes asecond strap adapted to be fastened around a user's head for holding therespirator in place.